MARTIN MURRAY faces a defining moment on Saturday at the O2 arena. Four times before he’s challenged for a world title. To keep his hopes of returning to world level he has to beat George Groves. But that is a tough ask, Martin admits, “He has got a good jab and he is a good boxer so I’ve got a tough night ahead of me.

“But I’m feeling in the condition of my life and I’m willing and ready to do whatever it takes.”

George suggested that Murray planned to weather an early storm and try to take him into the late rounds. But Murray warned, “I’m going in there straight from the get go I’m doing my gameplan. I’m not thinking six rounds, the first half of the fight is his and then the second half of the fight is mine. That’s the last thing I want to do, go into the second half chasing a fight. I’m going in there doing my thing from round one.”

Murray has fought Gennady Golovkin and insisted that Groves struggled in a spar with the Kazakh. “He blamed every man and his dog why the spar went so bad. He couldn’t give him any credit at all,” Martin maintained, as hostility crept in between them. “I do find him a bit patronising and arrogant but it’s because the fight is so big and I know what’s at stake. I’m up for the fight.”

Most talk of Golovkin has come from Chris Eubank Jr, who defends his British middleweight title on the O2 bill. Eubank is eyeing a shot at Golovkin, the world’s best middleweight. “I think it’s far, far too soon. I’m surprised that it’s still getting spoken about so much because I thought it was a publicity stunt. It got mentioned to me last week and I thought that fight will never happen,” Murray noted. “Definitely a couple of fights too soon but fair play to him for taking the fight. With great risk comes great reward.”